My Dear Wife,

Just a few lines telling you that I am quite O.K. I cannot tell you my address yet – I have no number. I am under canvas but we have good beds, plenty of blankets, straw mattress & 2 ground sheets. The food is very good and plenty of it, 4 good meals a day. I shall not want any food at all my dear, we are not allowed out of camp this week at all. At present I am in civvies. I have my knives, forks, spoons, all shaving kit and brush and comb, and gas proof cape. All my other things I shall get today. Cheer up my darling, I have got a good lot of Chaps with me; 3 Rushden, 2 Irthlingborough, 2 Northampton, 3 Leicester all in one tent. I was having tea in Peterborough when the warning went yesterday but we got through O.K. One of our chaps has just asked the Sarg whether peace has been declared during the night. He said we don’t want to stop here any longer than possible. I have been laughing ever since I came here with one joke and another. I hope you are trying to do the same. I miss you a lot sweetheart, but we have got to put up with it, we don’t start work until next Monday. I expect they will let us out of the camp then, so we can go to the pictures. I have got to have 6 weeks Infantry training so I don’t know what I am in yet. I have just had a very good breakfast: bacon, fried bread, butter and marmalade. You will have to excuse my writing, it is dark in our tent.

Cheerio my darling. I will soon let you know my number. There are 105 new men here.

God bless you, All my Best Love, Harold XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Remember me to all at home.

My Dearest Sweetheart and Wife,

Many thanks for your No 3 Letter I had today. I was surprised – I didn’t expect one today because I had one yesterday but it is still very nice to hear from you. I do hope my dear you are enjoying the best of health. I am O.K. myself. I am working nearly all day in the sun so you can be sure I am becoming quite brown now. I do think the life is doing me good but I shan’t be sorry when I am out of it I can tell you.

Well my darling I will love and leave you for a little while so cheerio.

God Bless you XXXXXXXX

Friday March 21

Hell my darling. Thanks for your lovely No 4 letter I had today. I should have had it tomorrow but still my sweet I had it today. Yes it has now been 12 months since we were made man & wife. I have not regretted one moment of it. On that day 23 March 1940 my dreams came true and I married the girl I loved. I shall always love her and will always be true to her, my wife is my sweetheart, my pal and a good many more things to me God Bless her always.

Well my darling I went to Peterboro today and I bought you a small birthday present. It did not cost a large sum but it is all I could afford on a soldier’s [pay] but the words are worth all the money in the world to me and you darling and I hope you will like it. I am sending it on in this letter so that you can wear it. I might add that I went on a bath parade but I never had one, had an haircut and a drink of tea and looked round the shops. I went in the canteen and the first second I put on the gramophone was Easter Parade, you can tell what happy thoughts that brought back to me can’t you.

Well sweetheart I don’t want you to count on my 7 days too much because once again you never know in the army and we both don’t want to be disappointed but still I hope it comes off all the same. Well my darling I will love and leave you now so God Bless you my sweet. I love you, will write again on Sunday.

Your most devoted Husband, Harold XXXXXXXXXXXX

On Tuesday July 11^th [1944] Letter No 8

My Dearest Wife,

Many thanks my darling for your letter No. 4 I have had today Tuesday July 11^th, also for the newspapers. Well my sweet this is my last letter from England but it will be also the No 1 from ‘somewhere in France’, so you see honey this letter will get finished when I have landed over the other side. I have left at the moment a space on page 1 for the address as of course I haven’t the faintest idea what it is yet....................

My Darling Wife,

Well honey here I am once more & considering the weather is very cold I am not at all too bad. Well Ada we are well up in the front line in that corridor in Holland roughly not far where the airborne landing took place & at times it is pretty hot here. We are now not in the infantry but are back in the Artillery in our old role of fighting aircraft & tanks. We shot one M.E.109 down the other morning & Jerry is losing quite a lot of his planes now. When the story of this war is told you will see that O’Connor’s boys have more than played their part & I think that we shall be some of the first English troops inside Germany. Well my darling I will try to tell you a tale about Holland. The towns & cities also the smaller places are very nice & clean with all the latest design in houses full of modern furniture. The people are very well dressed & all with the exception of the poor class wear shoes & the poor class wear the usual clogs. Its just as one might expect a very flat land dotted with windmills. Well honey it is very cold in the open now that October is here & at nights my, it is cold & as you know we live & sleep in the open. Roll on when I can get a nice bed to sleep in, blimey I shall sleep for a week. The rations we are getting are nothing great, we only get one loaf per day between 7 men & that’s not enough to feed real hungry men. I could eat a loaf all on my own. We manage to get through tho’ we sometimes swap some of our stuff for some eggs & tomatoes so it all helps. We have a pretty rough time here at nights & Jerry sends over his bombs to give some of their bridges a bashing & some land too close to be comfortable. Thanks very much for the News of the World & Empire News I had today dated Sept 23^rd. Well honey we are roughly 60 miles in Holland & about 50 miles from the North sea & by the time you get this letter we may be in Germany, that’s if they don’t hold us up. At this very moment our big guns are giving the Siegfried Line a proper shelling & I wouldn’t like to be there. I had a letter from George [Ada’s brother] yesterday & reading between the lines, George don’t like it, being away from England. Eric & I are pretty seasoned soldiers & we can put up with it, so honey don’t say anything about this at home will you. Please be sure & write to George as much as you can. So far he hasn’t had a letter & I know what it is when no mail arrives but drop him a line once a week & I know that it will help him carry on & cheer him up. While he is a big lad, he is still the baby of the family. I am writing to him today. Well my darling wife, I think this is all. I am enclosing the stamps for you. Always look after yourself. I am always with you & loving you, Cheerio

XXXXXXXXXX

Always your loving husband & sweetheart

XXXXX Harold XXXX

Somewhere in Holland – Thursday Oct 12^th – Letter No.7

Well honey here I am again & at this very moment we are all lined up ready for the last battle & what a battle which I hope will take us in Germany. Our infantry have just gone up already for the set to & I feel sorry for them, the great stout hearted fellows they are. I am glad at the moment that I am in the Artillery. We have just done our job & now it’s up to the other lads to do theirs. We have been plastering Jerry with shells for hours & I bet our guns is real music to our infantry ears. Where I am now honey, I can almost see Germany so you can see we haven’t far to go & I think that if all goes well our next move should be in Adolf’s country. We have had enough & shall be glad when it’s all over as I don’t think our nerves could stand up to this much longer. I am glad George is O.K. & I see that he is in a place called A. Well honey there are scores of towns beginning with A. So you might guess the wrong one. I had to laugh about his [apples?]  Well honey I have eaten about 6 apples a day for this last month so that should be good for me. Milk too, we seem to get plenty given us where ever we go & the Dutch people are great. Yesterday we had 3 gallons given to us between six men & I had several pints of lovely hot milk & I have drank a lot of it lately. Still honey the good Lord helps us in many ways & I should never forget his kindness & comfort in our hardships, trials & dangers. Well my darling wife this is all for today & I will finish this letter tomorrow. Cheerio my darling, God Bless you.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Friday Oct 13^th.

Here I am once again honey, this time to close my letter. In this letter I am enclosing 2 more keepsakes. A 5 franc note from Belgium & in English money it is worth 7d. & En Gulden which means one Guilder & in English money it is worth 1s.10½d. This last note is  from Holland & you will see the Queen’s photo on the front. We are paid in this money now & we get 12 Guildens per week which is roughly a pound. Well honey, when we were at Brussels I bought you 2 undersets & some silk stockings but I can’t send them as we are only allowed to send 30/- worth of stuff home & so again I cannot find the time, so honey I am keeping them as best I can in my kit bag & I hope to bring them home with me. So here’s hoping they keep alright. They cost me 800 francs , roughly £4 & while we are in the Belgium capital we drew quite a lot of pay as we hadn’t had much for months. I meant to tell you in my previous letter but I forgot. Well my sweet I guess this is all for today so once more, Cheerio my sweet. Look after yourself, God Bless you always, I love you.

Always your loving husband & sweetheart.

XXXX Harold XXXX

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The note is still inside Harold's Pay Book

Somewhere in Holland - Letter No.1 - Friday October 20^th [1944]

My Dearest Wife,

Many thanks my darling for your letter No.1 I had late last night. I am so glad you are well & I hope you remain that way. Also many thanks for the newspapers I had too, the mail seems to be getting here quite well considering that we are in the front line & honey we are getting a rough deal and it’s the most hardest & dangerous that we have had so far & Caen was bad enough. I don’t like to tell you these tidings but if you fail to get a letter you will know that we are busy in the line but you know honey that I shall write whenever I can. I shall be glad when it’s all over as I have had enough & we have had more that our share of the front line. Your photo was very nice & I know the grand little girl on the left quite well & I know that I shall always love her with all my heart. The weather is still very lousy & conditions wicked but I thank God that I am well to stick them. I suppose you know that the King was here but I don’t think that he was so near the Germans as the papers say. Well my loved one I guess this is all for today so Cheerio my darling until tomorrow. God Bless.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sat Oct 21^st

Many thanks for your letter No.2 I had this morning my sweet & I am very pleased to hear you are well. We had a rare night last night Jerry shelled us like blazes & some were very near for my liking & we had to get under the ground quick & proper; each of us thought that our numbers were up but I thank God that I am here today. Yes honey it’s a tough hard slogging & we have to fight every yard. No honey we are not out at Arnhem but we are on the west side of Aachen fighting slowly toward the German border. I bet that some people in England think that the war is over but us boys here know only too well that Jerry is very much alive & kicking & sometimes he hits us with everything except the kitchen sink & he would throw that at us if he had it handy. I shall be opening your birthday letter tomorrow, thanks for it honey. Well my darling I guess this is all for now honey. I shall write whenever I can & when conditions permit, so I will love and leave you now. My thoughts are always with you. Cheerio my darling, God Bless you. I love you, keep smiling.

Always your loving husband & sweetheart

Somewhere in Holland - Monday Oct 30^th  – Letter No.7

9 a.m.

My Darling Wife,

Well my sweet here I am once again & I am quite well & I hope you are too. Well honey I hope you get the parcel I sent you as you know we are only allowed to send 30/- worth so I have kept a white set back & will bring them or send then when conditions permit. They are funny things to post & there is 100% tax on them but I got a duty free label so I hope you get them O.K. & don’t have to pay anything on them. I had to show them to my Officer & wrap them up in his presence & he put his initials on the address & on my address inside. What a game is all this censor trouble. Well Ada we are still in the line & have had a poper hot time recently but things are a little quiet now but I expect that things will be moving soon & moving fast. I do however think that we have had more than our share of front line action & that we are about due to come out for a rest as now it’s been nearly 3 weeks. There is a rumour going round that there may be some short leave to Brussels but I don’t want that sort of leave. It’s either home or nothing for me but above all I want the war to end. I don’t want home leave and come back to this. Now I am here I will stick it to the finish. Jerry at nights brings his planes out & gives us an hectic time & in the daytime his 88 guns make us jump about a bit but honey believe me, he is getting a hot reception from us. At the time of writing Jerry is about 2 miles away down the road but he is well dug in and does not show his head in daylight otherwise he will get some hot lead at him. Well me sweet I still think about my last leave April 15^th and it has now been 7 months quite a long time but let’s hope the end is not far off. Well my little sweetheart I will love & leave you for today. Look after yourself. I am loving you always, Cheerio my darling.

XXXXXXXXXX

Monday 8.30p.m.

Well my darling here I am again to close my letter to you. Thanks very much for your letter No.8 I had had this evening & by the way honey No.6 is still missing unless of course you did what I sometimes do, put the wrong number on it. I am very sorry to learn you have foot trouble & also teeth but honey I do hope you will soon be better. I should laugh if I caught you doing those exercises and honey no matter what is wrong with you I shall always love you & I know that your love is all I want to keep me going through all these trials and hardships. I am sorry honey to put you to trouble once again but you see I should like some more candles you see now I am writing by candle light & they don’t last long & I have made the 4 you sent me last a month. If you can send me 12 or nearly that I shall be very grateful by the end of Nov I shall send you a short list of what I shall need for Xmas & it won’t cost you 3/-, it’s just a few things that are very vital to me and of course I can’t get them here in the front line. So honey I am sorry to keep asking for those things but with them it helps a lot & without them it gives more trouble & God only knows we have enough at times. At the moment it is pouring with rain but I am glad to say that I am keeping quite dry in my little hole with straw on the floor & a candle to keep me warm. After I have written this letter I shall get between my blankets as I have done my early guard for tonight & my second one is 6a.m. tomorrow morning & the blanket is the warmest place now & it has been bitter cold today. Look after yourself always my sweet as I am doing my utmost to do the same. God Bless you Ada, Keep smiling, I love you with all my heart.

Always your loving husband & sweetheart

XXXXX Harold XXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX

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Somewhere in Holland - Letter No 2 Sunday Nov 5^th [1944]

4.30p.m.

My Dearest Wife,

Well my loved one I thought I would write a few lines to you before I go to church, yes I am going to church it is only a small ... barn filled with straw but there for a short while we shall take our minds off the war & pray for our loved ones at home & pray too that our Lord will look after us safely through this trouble & hardship. Well my loved one I will now tell you of the great shock we had recently. Two of my best pals were killed in action & as we were called up together & went out together, home on leave with each other & been through all this shocking war you can see how hard it is for us. They were two fine well built fellows & one came from Leicester & the other from Northampton & often I came home on leave with the Northampton fellow. As these lads were blown to bits all we buried were two little parcels in two small graves. That is all we could find of them so you see honey when one loses his comrades it’s pretty hard & I haven’t got over it yet, it’s a bad job as both lads have wives & kiddies. I know we have got to have losses but when it happens to our troop then it shakes us up. I shall be glad when we come out of the line for a rest & glad too when the war is over. I think we have had more than our share.

Well my darling I am now going to church so I will say cheerio my darling. God Bless you. I will finish this tomorrow.

Monday Nov 6^th 12noon

Well my sweet thanks for the papers I had yesterday, Pictorial, Ball & Express, the cartoon in the Express was very good, I had to laugh when I saw it. I didn’t get to the church after all. Some of us got to the barn at 5.45 & then we were told that the service wasn’t until 7.45. We didn’t go back as there was a rough high wind & it had started to rain so we had to miss it. Well my loved one as regards to the war in my opinion we are pretty well bogged for the winter, the weather has been against us & of course we cannot do much in mud so all the [time] we are in the front line facing Jerry it looks as tho’ we shall stop here. It’s quite as bad for Jerry but he is well dug in & it is much easier to defend than to attack which is our game. We however have got faith in Monty & our other generals so we shall have to leave it to them & keep our fingers crossed hoping that the war will soon be over. I am going to send you a small list Ada of what I should like for Xmas & that honey is all I shall need. I have got plenty of fags & just haven’t the room for anymore. Well my darling I guess this is all for today, my love for you is always strong & true & I am always praying for your health & happiness. God Bless you my darling, Cheerio, I love you,

Always your loving husband & sweetheart

Harold

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Somewhere in Holland – Mon Nov 13^th – Letter No.6

My Dearest Wife,

Well honey here I am again & I am quite well & happy to hear you are too. Many thanks my sweet for your letter No.6 & No.7 I had this morning. I see that the weather at home is pretty lousy, it’s just the same here, it rained all day yesterday & it’s a proper November day today – no sun & plenty of fog. Don’t worry about a house honey, we might manage to get a Portal house & that’s better than nothing, don’t forget a good many times I should like a rabbit hutch out here. As I said in my previous letter, we are in good shelter at the moment with a nice warm fire but I don’t suppose it will last long. We can pretty well understand the people & they us & they are very good. At night we sit round the peat & wood fire & sing our songs while the family sing their Dutch songs & we get some good laughs. The Mamma & Pappa just ...  us they have got 8 children of their own & there’s six of us so you can see it’s a proper houseful but believe me it’s a palace to what our conditions have been in the past & to what I suppose there will be in the future. We do our day guard & 2 hours guard each man at night but it’s nice & warm when we get in. I am glad Eric & George are O.K., remember me to them when you write wont you. Well my darling the kiddies have just come in so I will close for today as it is impossible to write with them about so Cheerio my darling, God Bless you & keep you safe for me always.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Tuesday Nov 14^th – 1.0p.m.

Hello honey, here we are again & I thought I would write a few more lines before I feel tired. I have just had a good dinner & as I have got a G envelope I want to get it in the post. Well honey it poured with rain all yesterday afternoon, evening & nigh but in the afternoon I went & done a bit of shopping. That’s the first time I have seen some shops for a month. I might add that we are on a well earned rest for about a week I think. I don’t know for sure. All I bought on my shopping expedition was some envelopes & writing paper & the two cards I am enclosing in this letter. We usually get some stationery in our N.A.A.F.I. ration but we haven’t had any this last 2 weeks & by the way we had a pint bottle of beer & that is the first time for 2 months but that doesn’t worry me. I don’t care for it now I have been without for quite a while. These two cards I am sending are of the town I am stationed at this moment but I am crossing out the name of the town for security reasons as it is too near the front line. I have put a cross on the house where I am now living & the Windmill is the view we get from the back garden. The town is now knocked about a bit but it is still very pretty as most towns in Holland look & I have only seen them when it is raining. All that view you see still stands, it’s other parts that have been in the war. I feel certain that if only the weather had been on our side the war would have now been over but the old weather man has always been against us. We had some good laughs last night, our Sarg. went to open a bottle of beer & the top flew off & it just emptied itself all over the ceiling & smothered us all. We did laugh. Every time Mamma turns her back I undo her apron strings & then one of the girls calls me & while I am turning away Mamma puts her finger near my cheek so that when I turn I get it in the face. I also keep tapping her on the shoulder when she isn’t looking & she runs or blames one of our lads until she sees me laughing, then I get it again. We look after them, we do quite a lot of work for them & they don’t want for cigs or chocolate & honey I think you know my credentials as regards to housework. These people have never laughed so much for years & we can see whom they like & believe me they have no love for the Moffs (Jerries) that’s the Dutch name for them & while I am on the subject of language, my Dutch is a mixture of French, Belgian & English. I often laugh at myself even. I suppose we shall forget the different languages when we get in Germany & have to start all over again. Before I finish with this very nice family the woman’s name is quite a mouthful when we say it fast; Antonia Vendenzeldonk. Well my darling wife I hope by now that you have got the things I sent you & very soon I hope you will get the money I sent. I think it will give you a bit of a surprise but you have given me plenty of money during my leaves & from my part it’s nice to be able to give you a little in return. Well sweetheart I hope you are looking after yourself now that the winter is here. I think this is the last & worst winter I shall get, the others should be good as the war cannot last much longer. My thoughts are always with you honey & you know I love you with all my heart & it will be a happy day for me when I can see you again & I hope it won’t be long. It has now been 8 months since I had my nine-day leave & it seems 8 years to me. Before I forget honey, we expect to get 48 hours leave in Brussels in the near future so it looks as tho’ leave in England won’t start yet a while. Still honey let’s get the war over that’s the main problem. I do hope Mum & Dad are OK., give them my best love won’t you & my darling enjoy yourself as much as you can & please look after yourself. I guess this is all so honey I will say cheerio & God Bless you, I love you.

Always your loving husband & sweetheart

XXXXX Harold XXXXX
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Somewhere in Holland – Sat Nov 18^th – Letter No.9

8p.m.

My Darling Wife,

Well my darling here I am again. I sent a G envelope off to you this afternoon & I thought I would write a few more lines tonight. Since I last wrote I have received another lot of papers & the parcel containing the candles & cartoons. Thanks very much my sweet. I have done well today, three lots of papers, one letter & a parcel. The dates of the papers were the 29^th Oct & 5^th Nov. Well my darling at this very moment the noise of the R.A.F. is terrific, they have been going over Germany this last hour & there must be hundreds of them. This afternoon I saw squadrons of bombers through field glasses & they stretched for miles, there must have been 2,000 of them. Today Jerry has had a real bashing. At last & for the first time we have got a good tent. We had it yesterday & this tent will keep the wind & rain out. Well honey this morning we were in the line but tonight I don’t think we are as it’s very quiet & I think that Jerry is pulling out from his positions pretty fast so watch out, soon in my opinion, you will read great news of the British 2^nd Army. Well my darling I will tell you a little more of Brussels. The girls in the streets stop & ask Tommies to spend the night with them for 400 francs. There are hundreds of girls & they are real smashers too. We had at least a dozen stop us but I think you know me better than that, altho’ a good many of the lads were missing from the barracks so may be I was ...  but they  turned up in the morning & I noticed that they all looked b......... It looks as tho’ some might get a dose of venereal disease & then they will wish they hadn’t done it. I was very pleased to hear in your letter No.10 I had today, that Cliff is home & that there is no trouble with him & his wife. I hope my darling that you are looking after yourself. My thoughts are always with you & I love you with all my heart & it will be a very happy day when I can be with you again. My, it will be great. Well my darling I guess this is all tonight. I will finish until tomorrow, Goodnight my darling, God Bless you.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunday November 19^{th -} 10.a.m.

Well my sweet I haven’t much to say today except that the weather is quite good & the sun is shining lovely. I suppose you have heard that the British 2^nd Army is now inside Germany & I think that once we are over the B Line then Jerry has had it in a big way. We are not looking forward to Germany as we shall want eyes at the back of our heads. Well my sweet I will now close until tonight & if we don’t move in the meantime I will finish this letter then. So until later, Cheerio my darling XXXXXXX

6p.m. Many thanks my sweet for your letter No.2 I had this evening & I also had one from George & he tells me that when he gets home again he is going to sit by the fire for a month. He is quite well but will be glad when the war is over, he has had enough of the B. War. Well my sweet I had No.2 today so No.1 is a bit late. No my sweet I am not in the action but am in Holland West of Aachen. If I could walk in a straight line I could get to Dusseldorf in Germany. You see we do a lot of moving about going forward & yet coming back to. Sometimes when it get a bit too hot we can do a bit of retreating. Well honey if only the weather can keep like it has been today I think for certain that the war will be over by Xmas. All the armies including the 2^nd British are now having a grand slam towards Germany & all is going well. I don’t think that anything can now stop us if we have a little luck. So honey I have great hopes. Well my darling I will close now, I want to write a few lines to George. So my darling, Goodnight, God Bless you, I love you.

Always your loving husband & sweetheart Harold

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

P.S. Please included a bottle of ink in my list for Xmas & I am enclosing some snaps of Bussells.

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Somewhere in Holland – Nov 26th – Letter No. 3.

9a.m.

My Dearest Wife,

Well my sweet here I am once again & I am quite well & by the time this letter reaches you I hope you are too. Many thanks my darling for your letter No.5 I had late last night. I have still got No.3 to come yet. I suppose its knocking about somewhere. Well my sweet you thought I was in this new push did you? We haven’t gone in yet but by the time you get this letter we shall be. At the moment we are not far from Venlo & I suppose you have heard quite a lot about that place. The weather is still dead against us & if we could only get good weather then things would turn. As it is, things are going well on the Western front but they could I suppose, go very much better. The Germans are now fighting well & hard but I think it’s their last big stand. If honey I am ever wanted at home through very grave emergency then I will tell you how to get me but I pray that I am never wanted. You first go to the police station & tell them to inform the War Office AG4A, they in turn inform 2nd Army Headquarters & so on to us. So honey don’t forget but I sincerely hope that this information is never needed. We have been told to send this home as there have been a lot of mistakes in the past & all relatives & next of kin should know this news. If in future honey the letters don’t reach you so regular don’t worry as we shall be pretty busy & I shall send a few lines to you whenever I can. I think you can understand the trials & conditions we have to put up with. I shall be glad when I hear that you have received the goods & money I sent you, also the small handkies from Brussels. I don’t like to hear that anything has been lost. Well my darling wife I will love & leave you now & will write later on in the day or again tomorrow so my Darling Cheerio, God Bless you, I love you

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Sunday Evening 6.0p.m.

Many thanks my darling for your letter No.3 & No.6 I had this afternoon. I am very glad to hear that you have received the goods I sent & that you likes them. I didn’t know whether they were cheap or dear as I don’t know much about women’s clothes but anyway they will do for you to go to work in during the summer. Well honey we are a little behind the line at the moment & are once more stationed in a Dutch Civy house & the people again are very good. Yet again we are very lucky in having a roof over our heads, we also have electric lights. There are 4 boys & 2 girls in the house & the boys clean our boots for us & do anything we ask them to. We have a room of our own & the people ask us to ask us to sit by the fire with them & as before we sing our songs & they sing theirs & at nights we have some fun & keep them alive. The people of course get paid so much for each man by the Army so it helps them & of course we help them in many ways. I don’t suppose this will last long as we expect to be in the push very soon & the reason I think we are laid up like this is because of the weather but there has been a great big improvement & the sun has shone all day today altho’ it has been very cold. The kiddies just love the Tommies at this town & every time we go out there is always a crowd round us. This afternoon 3 of us played with a dozen kiddies for over 3 hours & my they did love it & we enjoyed it too. They laugh at the way we talk & of course we laugh too & it is a real treat to watch them play at there country games. They know the difference between liberation & occupation. I don’t think they have enjoyed themselves for years. When we ask them how the German soldier was they turn their nose up & say ‘nix good’ & when we say to them ‘do you like Tommy’ they come & put their arms round us & say ‘Tommy good, Tommy stay in Holland’. Well my darling as I have said previously, the last big battle is now on & somebody has got to win it & we shan’t lose it so I am hoping that if all goes well & that bad weather man is on our side, then I do think the war or the major part of it will be over by Xmas. I am very pleased you are well, as regards myself I am quite alright.

Page 9 of the letter

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Always your loving husband & sweetheart

XXXX Harold XXXXXX

[below Harold writes ‘I love you’ all in kisses]

Naval Barracks - Friedricksort NW Germany - 8th June 1945.

My Darling Wife,

Well honey I wish you could see me now. My you would have a shock. Let me describe the scene: Here I sit at a writing desk with your Photo near me, at my side is an electric fan going full blast & electric light on above & a wireless playing, behind me is a glass & wash bowl, a lovely wardrobe & a port hole with a sea breeze blowing in. Have you guessed where I am? Well honey I am on a new German destroyer & believe me the accommodation is smack on. We are just about 50 yards off shore & our job is to guard the ship from danger or trouble. There are only 12 Germans on it, just a small skeleton crew to keep it in trim & I don’t think they will cause trouble. We have a sarg., a bombardier, myself & 5 men on board, total 8 men. We each have a room or cabin of our own. The weather outside is hot but below on ship it’s like a fumier & the sweat is pouring off us. Wish you could see us, we are like 8 Admirals. It’s a job to write as the ship keeps doing a roll & I have had some sardines for my tea so my belly feels none too good. I have done some jobs in my time, but to think that I am now 3^rd in command of a Jerry destroyer, well that beats the book. I think that beats Clifford or Oscar don’t you think? By the way Ada, our Sarg. has just gone ashore so that leaves me now 2^nd in command, if the bombardier goes off it I think I will bring the B... ship back to England. I keep smiling to myself, our lads keep going through the very narrow gangways & up the little steel stairways puffing & panting saying it's hotter than hell.  Our cook is in the galley with his shirt & pants off cursing the heat. What a life on a Sat night. I didn’t think we should stay at our headquarters long & we left there at 10 this morning. I don’t know how long this will last but it’s O.K. by me. Many thanks for your letters No.4 & No.5 I received a few moments ago, Letter No.4 gave me a proper dressing down, but No.5 said you were sorry if you had hurt me. Well Ada you didn’t hurt, I just had to laugh, I couldn’t help it. You have known me for 10 years (or have you) & when I pull your leg you go up in the air. In every letter I tell you I love you. Well honey you surely believe me or do you? Yes when I told you ‘you were going over’ you swallowed it lock, stock & barrel as the saying goes. If we fall out here every time we wise cracked we should never be pals as we are joking 18 hours a day. Besides Ada if you insist on getting on to me I shall sign on for another 5 years (now don’t take that the wrong way). You say in your letter you love me, sure you do, I know that. I don’t say much but believe me I love you a damn sight more than my letters say or much more than you love me. I mean that & I don’t care if you don’t like that remark, believe me that’s the truth. Scores of things I used to try & do for you which shows that I love & worship my wife & that nothing in this world is too good for her & I hope that I can come back with health & strength to do the same for her again. As regards this parade, we have been talking about. You did promise me that on my last leave & you did back out of it now didn’t you? Of course you did. Well honey I will write a bit more tomorrow as I cannot post this until six tomorrow night, that’s when our rations will come & our mail will come in & go out. So my sweet until tomorrow I will say Goodnight & God Bless you. I love you.

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Sunday June 24^th – 12.30

“Phew”, my it is hot & here I sit in the cabin once again writing to my loved one. My hands & body is about bathed in sweat as you will notice by the smudge I have made on the previous page. Well honey the weather is real hot & on board we cannot get cool. On deck it is hot & below it’s murder. Last night at midnight I sat out on deck, gazing towards England, in my shirt sleeves & it was lovely. I woke up at six this morning with the sun streaming through my little port-hole & I thought how grand it is. You know how I love the sea, well honey this is just up my street & I am enjoying myself. This morning we have been taking snaps of each other sitting on the gun barrels with German tin hats on & our troop Capt. caught us & he said I guess I have picked a bright crew for this job. We were laying breakfast when he came & that was at 10.45a.m. After I have had my dinner I am having a cold shower. Well my sweet I guess this is all for this letter so remember me to Mum & dad & before I close I guess that Olive is a bit jealous to think that I shall be out before Oscar & everyone in the services agrees that age plus service is the best thing that could happen & the fairest, for after all, I have served 5 years & as much danger as Os has had. I guess I have done my bit. Still Olive is like that & she seems to think that her & Os are the only two in this world. I have not written since I came back off leave & it was a good while before I came that I had wrote. Well honey I will say Cheerio & God Bless you, I love you, Keep smiling. Take a tonic (for nose bleeding) & look after yourself.

Always your loving husband

Harold

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Tuesday 26 June – Letter No.9 – 7p.m.

My Darling Wife,

Many thanks my sweet for your letter No.6 I received tonight. I am pleased to know you are O.K. I hope you keep like that. I haven’t got a great deal to say honey as I posted a letter to you this afternoon & I thought I would send two snaps before & if we go on this sea trip. No.1 photo is yours truly made up in his best Bdress ready to go out. Look at those creases in my pants. Not a bad looking soldier Eh? No2 sees your Hadgy sitting amongst the flowers & can you see my wristwatch & 2 rings, they could be very much clearer but I think it is the developing & printing that is the trouble. Well me darling you will notice that I have been having a game with the typewriter. I am pretty good at the adders but I need a lot of practice in trying to type a letter & as it’s a German machine that makes it more difficult, still I guess practice makes one perfect. This destroyer leaves here at one o’clock tomorrow but as yet I don’t know whether we shall be going with her.

Goodnight my loved one, God Bless you, I love you.

Yours Forever

Harold

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And these two letters are typed.

Wednesday June 27^th 1945 - 9a.m.

To my Darling Wife Ada,

Here I [am] again my sweet & I sincerely hope you are enjoying the very best of health. As regards myself, well I am feeling fine. The weather today is pretty lousy as it has been pouring with rain during this last 4 hours. I still don’t know whether we shall be moving out today & I don’t suppose we shall know before dinner. I guess honey you are looking forward to your August holiday now that July is almost here & I hope you enjoy yourself. I hope Eric & George are O.K. Please remember me to them when you write, tell Eric that it won’t be long before the 24s are here & then we shall be getting drunk. I am hoping to get one more leave in before the act but I have not the faintest idea when that will be. To pass the time away I am doing a spot of typing as it keeps me amused & there’s nothing else to do. Don’t forget to let me know your address when you go to the seaside soon enough so that I can write. Well my darling I guess this all for the moment as it is nearly dinner time so I will finish later on in the day if I get the chance. Don’t think I shall do all my letters like this honey as it takes so blinking long,

Cheerio my Darling, God Bless You, I Love You, Keep smiling & always look after yourself,

Yours forever, Harold

6p.m. 27^th June Wednesday

Well Honey here I am again to close my letter & it is still raining. It looks as tho’ it is going to keep on. Well my sweet this ship is not going to sail until Sunday so I am hoping we stay on board & carry on as usual. Did you place that order for the cigarettes for me? I hope you did as I am running low. I have still a lot to learn to get this job taped as I am still making a lot of mistakes but you know practice makes perfect! If you know a nice young girl that’s in need of a typist please let me know as I could do with a job like this? I am working a crafty move – I am doing this with all capital letters while I should mix them up a bit! I hope you liked the 2 snaps I sent. I have plenty more but are of various scenes & of fellows who are in our troop. I guess this is all for this letter so my darling look after yourself, my thoughts are always with you & I love you with all my heart.

Always your loving husband & sweetheart

Harold.

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These are kisses on a typewriter, I hope.

Thursday 28^th June 1945 - 9.50am

To My Darling Wife Lally,

Well my Lally here is your husband once again & I sincerely hope you are well & happy, I am quite o.k. but am longing to see you again. The weather is still very wet & dull but I guess it will improve again. Anyway I don’t want it to get too hot as it is too uncomfortable, we are still on this destroyer & are enjoying life but I know where I would sooner be, & that is back at No.39? I never went on shore last evening as it was a bit too wet?  But if it is fine tonight I hope to go, our food is quite decent & we have had eggs for breakfast this 3 mornings, there’s not much to do here as the crew are a decent lot & that makes our life more easier, don’t think honey that I am going to type all my letters, oh, no, I am just doing it this way while I am on board this ship as it gives me something to do & it helps to pass the time, I rather like it but there is still room for plenty of improvement.

Our leave has started again but I don’t know where I stand yet, I suppose my turn should come about the end of August or the beginning of September. Anyway I hope to get another leave in before I get demobbed, I won’t we have a holiday, according to what I hear tonight I don’t think we shall be sailing with this ship but in the army one never knows what is going to happen next, give my best regards to mum & dad & those who enquire about me, my thoughts are always with you honey & I love you with all my heart, I Guess you will never know how much I love you, I breathe your name with every breath I take, roll on when we can pick the old threads once again. The ship is doing a rare roll this morning & I guess some of the lads will soon be a bit sick they look a bit pale, so Peggy is going to do a bit more work, still that will help her on a bit until the nipper gets here. Well my loved one I guess this is all until later on in the day, so cheerio my darling, God Bless you, I Love You.

4pm

Well honey here I am again & it is still raining. I meant to ask you if sometime in the near future you could get a film so that we can take some snaps. We cannot get them now & the size I require is 6 by 9, we used to get them by giving German soldiers & marines cigarettes but now they have run out & we cannot get them in the shops. If you can get one we can take some snaps when I come home on leave, also honey will you put a tube of Aspros in your next letter as I had a lot somewhere but don’t know where I placed them, I haven’t wrote to Midge or Olive for a long while so it looks as tho’ I shall have to send them a few lines. I keep on poking my head out of the port-hole & having a look at the ships as they pass by & there’s scores of all shapes & sizes but I cannot see many English. At 8 o’clock tonight there is an A.T.S. band playing at Kiel & I should very much like to go & see them, it would be a nice change to see some nice English tarts but I guess the A.T.S. are no great body from what I hear. I hope you are looking after yourself but I don’t suppose you are taking a tonic, still honey  I will look after you when I come home again. Well Lally I will close for now & will finish later on tonight,

Cheerio my sweet, all my love I send to you.

8p.m.

Well my sweet I did not go to the show after all the weather was too lousy it has now been raining all day. I guess I shall get in bed early & get plenty of rest! Well Ada I have had a smashing tea today. This morning I waved to a fisherman & asked him for a fish & he gave me a couple of plaice. In return I gave him 4 fags & what a tea, blimey I didn’t half smack my lips. Well my sweet I managed to get a film this afternoon & I am keeping it until I come home. We shall be able to take some snaps then. I am waiting for our mail to come in as it is a bit late tonight & then I may hear from you & reply to it.

The ship is doing a proper roll & one of our lads has just hung his head over the side & I guess he has had it for a while. I had to laugh as I guess they are land lubbers & not sailors like me. At last it is now clearing up so I suppose we shall be getting it a bit warmer now. I have been thinking honey about Eric. It is just about time he had his 2^nd leave isn’t it. Our first men go on July 1^st & we are sending more men than we did on the previous leave. So honey I am hoping I click towards the end of August. So Lally if our luck holds you might get two holidays in August so keep your fingers crossed. Every day I type what I call our ship’s News Sheet out & I make up various bits of poetry about the lads on this ship, it is real good & it makes them laugh & it makes me laugh too. Of course I dare not print here what I show them otherwise it would burn a hole in the paper. Still it helps us to keep alive & stops us from getting down in the dumps. This typewriter belongs to our Sargeant & he often says “can I borrow my machine Harold?”, of course I let him but I soon have it back again.

[the last page is handwritten]

10.30p.m.

Well my darling I am now off the ship & am back at our barracks. We had to leave in a hurry as the Navy took over to take the ship to England. I had to leave my type writing & I shan’t trouble to type my letters again, only the address.

Goodnight my sweet, God Bless you, I love you,

Yours forever

Harold

Sat June 30^th – No.1 Letter – 6p.m.

My Dearest wife,

Well honey I cannot write much because I don’t feel like it. At the moment I am in our camp hospital, I had to come in this morning & my complaint is gastric flu. I haven’t got to eat anything & I have just plenty of drink & nasty medicine with some sleeping tablets on top. This morning my temperature was over 100 but it has gone down a bit now. I am of course in bed & likely to stay here for a few days. Thanks for your letter No.8 I had tonight & I am pleased that you are alright. Don’t worry I am being well looked after. I guess there will be some trouble round here soon as the German werewolves have started to sabotage. I guess this is all now & I will write when I can, Cheerio honey, God Bless you, I love you,

Yours Forever

Harold

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Sunday July 1^st –  Letter No2. - 6p.m.

My Dearest Wife,

Well Ada I am allowed a ¼ of an hour to write & have just had my first fag for a couple of days. As I told you in my previous letter I am in hospital & I am feeling better tonight than I did last night, I thought last night I was going to konk out but however I am still here. During this last 36 hours I have had six M & B tablets & they have done me a lot of good. M & B is that wonder drug, I don’t know whether you have heard about it, I tried to stand up a few moments ago but I had to get back in bed again, I couldn’t manage it. This has got me down proper but I am one who soon gets well again. The M.O. said I might get up a little while about Wed & as usual because I want something to read my papers are already 3 days late, that’s just my luck. Well honey I shall have to close now as I have had a dozen rests to get this page & a half down. So Honey cheerio & God Bless you.

XXXXXX

Monday July 2^nd – 7p.m.

Well honey here I am again to write a bit more. This tea-time I had my first meal for 3 days, I had a poached egg & 2 little bits of bread & butter. It went down alright as I was getting hungry. I am feeling a lot better now & I shall be able to get up a short while tomorrow. Our lads are jolly good & last night I had brought me a bottle of Bovril, a tin of Ovaltine, a packet of biscuits & 12 oxo’s. All these little things show what a good set of lads we have got & I do appreciate it. When I woke up this morning there was a great big dolly in bed with me so I guess someone had a joke. I received Mum’s letter tonight & will you thank her for me, she forgot to put my number on the letter & she put Gnr instead of L/Bdr, therefore it was floating round a day before they found out who it belonged to. Anyway thank her for it & I shall be writing when I can. The weather is shocking & it has been raining nearly all the while this last three days. I have a pictorial dated June 24^th today so I suppose mine will turn up tomorrow. Well I guess this is all for now so cheerio & God Bless you, I love you

XX  Yours Forever  XX

Stamps enclosed in this letter. Harold had written "Uncle Addy" on the border of one of them

My Darling Wife,

Well my sweet here I am once again & once more to tell you the days news. I am O.K. honey & I hope you are too. This morning I done all my washing & have got it dry as the weather has been quite lovely. This afternoon we took out the rowing boat as the speed boat had broke & we rowed to the shore. There we had a game on the sands amongst the lovely bathers (not fraternising) & after that we took out for a row about 16 little boys & girls in their bathing costumes, they did love it & we enjoyed it too. Well honey we went back for tea & after tea I had a lovely hot shower & then we took the boat out again. We must have went miles & we pulled in to the shore once & spoke to some German tarts, there were 6 of us & then we rowed out again & of course we were acting the fool. I was steersman & once I got on some rocks & it took us half an hour to get off again. One of our blokes who could not swim said “Pull in to the shore I am going to the B...”, I said “well you can’t walk to our stop so you had better stay on”. Well anyway we got back at 9.45p.m. so we were O.K. Yes honey, we are enjoying ourselves & this is certainly a holiday by or I should say on the sea. I guess this is just what I wanted after my recent illness. I got a lovely new chrome wristlet strap off a German sailor for 40 cigarettes today & I feel quite pleased about the deal. By the way honey I haven’t received the fags yet & I guess they will be about another week yet. I haven’t wore much today honey, all I have had on is my slippers & trousers, no socks or shirt. Well my loved one, I guess this is about all for tonight & I will finish this letter tomorrow, Cheerio my darling, God Bless you, I love you, Goodnight.

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Sat July 14^th – 12.45a.m.

Thanks my darling for your letter I received this evening, the number was 6. Well honey you can see it is late & it is ¾ of an hour past midnight. We have had a bit of a party tonight in celebration of the lifting of the home patronisation ban, that is a good thing & one of the best that has happened. The Germans on this ship are pleased & they now say at last the war is over & from my own experience I say that is right. Now we can tell them how & why they were wrong & I know that the English soldier is the best ambassador in the world. I looked through the glasses tonight from this ship & the beach was full of English troops & German girls. They were enjoying themselves. I cannot blame them as these girls are the last thing in loveliness, you need not worry about me as I have got all I want & am quite satisfied thank you. Well my sweet today has been a very hot day & I have been in the sun all day. This morning we had the boat out all morning & this afternoon we took a lot of little kids for a ride in the boat. They are just like English kids bless them & they had their little bottle of lemonade & a bit of bread & butter wrapped in paper for their tea, they did love the ride & so did we. Well my darling I guess this is all & the time is now 1.10a.m. so I will get a spot of shut-eye, Goodnight my loved one, God Bless you. I love you with all my heart.

Yours Forever

XXXXXXX  Harold  XXXXXX

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Friday July 27^th – Letter No.8 – 6.15p.m.

My Darling Wife,

Thanks honey for your letter No.3 I received tonight. I am glad you are well honey & as regards to myself I am quite O.K. Yesterday I went & played at cricket & we lost & last night I & one of my mates went for a long walk on the sands. The weather yesterday & today is real good but last night we had a thunderstorm which lasted a long while, today I have been to Kiel 4 times but I didn’t do any work. We went to fetch lorry loads of bricks & stones filled up the lorry at the Kiel end & other Jerries emptied it this end so all I were was driver’s mate & I enjoyed that smoking one of my Wills’ Woodbines & keeping nice & cool in my shirt sleeves. At the moment I am 24 hours quard & I come off at 6 o’clock tomorrow so I shall be able to read the newspapers dated July 22^nd which I received tonight with the No.3 letter. We have to go out in two’s now as I guess some of our lads have been beaten up & it looks as tho’ whoever is responsible will get a packet. I don’t know whether it’s Jerries or Poles but I guess in future Tommy will be ready for them. I shall only send one letter to your holiday address & I shall not send that until I am certain that you are going there. So honey there should be some mail for you when you get home & I shall be glad when we are back home & I still don’t like to see the girls go out alone away from home, there are too many S.S. men knocking about England. I hope Mum & Dad are O.K., please give them my best regards & I hope too that Eric has got home quite safely. Well my darling I guess this is all for now so look after yourself. My thoughts are always with you & I am always loving you, Cheerio, God Bless you

Always Yours Forever

Harold

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[a typed note]

27^th July 1945

Here’s wishing you a very happy and sunny holiday, My thoughts will be with you and I wish I could be with you in person.

Cheerio, God Bless you, I love you

Yours Forever

Harold

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The envelopes of the next two letters are stamped “From H.M.Ship”

Wed August 15^th – Letter No.1 – 8.15p.m.

My Darling Wife,

Well honey at last the world is at peace once again & I guess all in England are pretty happy about it as we are over here. I suppose you heard the Prime Minister speak at 12 o’clock last night. I heard it but it was one a.m. by our time as we have not yet altered our clocks over here. I was on the bridge of the ship when a naval officer told us to come in his room & hear this important announcement & then of course we heard all the speech. All my lads are guards on this ship & to help them out I always do the 11.30 to 1a.m. guard at night for them to help them out as they are good lads. I only do ½ hours in 24 so that’s not much but it helps them. All our other bombardier take out day & all through the night our other lads on those speedboat patrols but I guess I have got the easiest job. Well honey after hearing the speech I woke some of the lads up & told them that the war with Japan was over & then they got up & we drank a bottle of Cognac between us & then went to bed. This afternoon our Troop Capt who is on board with us gave me 3 bottles of Cognac to share among my lads but he gave me strict orders that no one was to get drunk so I shall have to be careful. Cognac if you don’t know is a French drink equal to English Whiskey & it is pretty good. The lads keep on asking me when I am going to tap the bottles & I said when I have finished this letter & they tell me I have all day tomorrow to write but I have just swore at them in (nice) army swear words. Well my sweet many thanks for the two letters received tonight No.1 & No.2, I am very pleased to hear that you have arrived home quite safely & that you have received George’s watch quite safely. That was good going as I didn’t expect it to get home yet. My mate must have sent it on as soon as he got home. My you done well didn’t you to get up at 7a.m. in the morning to eat egg & tomatoes for breakfast & then go back to bed again. You young devil, I bet you won’t do that when I come home. Yes you done very well to go to & from your holiday as easy as you did & now you have got 2 more days holiday. Us poor soldiers can’t get holidays. Still I guess it’s all a holiday for us & we at times get a bit fed up with it & would like to do a bit of work. There is no need to get Oscar’s address as I wrote to them all & sent it to Raunds & they can send it on. The weather has been quite good again today & it is still quite warm. All I have done is a lot of reading & then sitting on deck arguing with the other lads, that’s nearly all we have to do, sit & argue & then act the fool & then some-one nearly gets thrown overboard so we have to stop it. Well my darling I shall have to get a wash now & be ready for 10 to hear the King’s speech. I am feeling fine & as fit as a lion, I guess I have never felt fitter & I could knock a louse. I haven’t wore a jacket now for a month & my skin is a real nice brown. Well honey I will now say Goodnight & God Bless you, I love you, Look after yourself.

XXXXXXXXXX      Yours Forever       XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX     Harold         XXXXXXXXXXXXX

P.S. So sorry to hear that Uncle Bill is ill, tell him I hope he will soon be better, don’t forget will you.

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Sunday Sept 9^th - Letter No.6 - 11a.m.   [another typed letter]

to My Darling Wife.

Well my sweet Sunday is here again and another one less to do in this army of ours. I am quite alright and I hope you are too. Well Ada I guess the only subject I can talk about is leave. I shall leave my unit on the 20th of Sept at 6am for Kiel, from Kiel I shall journey to Hamburg arriving there at 10am. At 2pm I shall leave Hamburg by train for Rotterdam in Holland. I shall be on the train all night and will arrive at Rotterdam at 4pm. That honey brings us to 4pm on the 21st of Sept. At 10pm the boat will sail for England and I shall arrive at an English port at 7am in the morning on the 21st. I shall then have the journey to London and home to do but I haven’t the faintest idea what time I shall arrive home. So honey that is all I can tell you and I hope that everything goes well. I am going to get some washing done now honey so cheerio until later. 

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7p.m.

Well honey here we are again and I am quite pleased with today’s work. I have got all my washing done and have got it all dry. It has turned out lovely this afternoon and it has been quite hot. I wrote to Midge a fortnight ago but I haven’t heard from him yet. If he does not answer my letter I shall not write again as I have been caught like that before. We are losing a lot of men now. What with demobbing and leave we are down to rock bottom but I guess the lads don’t mind that as long as they can get home, I know I don’t. How is Eric and George nowadays, O.K. I hope. I have got some films safely tucked away and I hope I can get them home alright, I hope too that I can get home early so that we can kick off at the pictures. I haven’t been now for six weeks so I could do with seeing a good film. Well honey I guess this is about all for this letter so I will close now and finish tomorrow. Goodnight my darling, God bless you, I love you, Keep smiling and always look after yourself.  

My thoughts are with you always.      XXXXXX    XXXXXXXXX

Monday Sept 10th.  8pm.

Many thanks my darling for your letter No.6 I received a few moments ago. I am so pleased to hear that you received the last lot of snaps I sent you and I think that will be just about the lot this side of my leave. You say in your letter honey that the Sarg. ought to give me his typewriter. Well I could get one quite easily but I cannot get it home so what the use. We have had another easy day today and all I have done is to sit about and read. I guess it is a proper waste of manpower but the army does not think so. I am pleased to hear that you are O.K. as regards myself I am alright but shall be glad when I am on my way home as it is getting a bit monotonous now. The weather is still about the same, sunny but cool and I don’t suppose we shall get much good weather now that the winter months are almost upon us. Well my sweet I guess this is about all for this letter so I will say goodnight my darling. God Bless you, I love you. Look after yourself.

Yours Forever

XXXXXXXXXXXX Harold XXXXXXXXXXX

Sunday Dec 30^th 1945 6p.m.

To My Darling Wife,

Well my sweet this is the last Sunday of this year & I hope too that it is the last Sunday I shall spend in the army. I should have been away today but here I still am. I hope you are well honey & as regards [me] I am quite O.K. Well my sweet if all goes well we shall leave here at 9a.m. tomorrow, Monday December 31^st. They are the arrangements at the moment, you know of course that there will be various stopping places but if all goes well & I have the luck I hope to be with you on Sat Jan 5^th. I guess it will take me at least that time to get through. I shall still send you a short note as soon as I land in England. We went to draw our wages today what we had saved but our pay clerk hadn’t got enough money so he paid us £5 a piece & the Regimental Paymaster at Leicester will send us the rest through the post so I hope that is not long in coming as that is my holiday money. Well my sweet I hope that this time next Sunday I shall be with you & that we don’t have to part again & that we can live together happily ever after.

So my sweet I will close now & I hope to be with you soon.

Cheerio my darling,
God bless you. I love you,

Yours Forever Harold XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

*A final letter sent to Ada whilst she was in the dermatology unit at Rushden Hospital, posted 20^th May 1965:

Thurs 9 p.m.

To My Dear Wife,

I could not let a day pass without writing or seeing you, I feel very cheerful tonight to think that you are feeling a little better. You know Ada, when you come home again, it will be the happiest day of my Life. I shall like a dog with two tails. I think you know how much I love you & how much I am missing you. Please don’t think that you are alone. I am with you always every moment.

Bless you, Goodnight, all my love,

Harold

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